Spanish airport operator Aena's zero emissions admission for the airline industry

The airline industry has a commitment to zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This is a huge challenge considering that aircraft are currently far from zero emissions, even though airlines are investing in new technologies and sustainable fuels. For this reason, the president and CEO of Aena, Maurici Lucena, acknowledged on Wednesday that the airline industry will be "the one that will take the longest to decarbonise."

At a round table discussion with other leaders in the transport sector as part of the Spain Investors Day (SID) held this Wednesday in Madrid, Lucena explained that, within the air sector, Aena is "better positioned" than airlines and aircraft manufacturers. "In 2030 we will be carbon neutral in all Spanish airports," he said. To this end, this manager in charge of 46 Spanish airports has invested more than 750 million euros in the last seven years.

Even so, the company's CEO warned of some "dangerous" recommendations on sustainability. He is confident that companies "can only invest in decarbonisation if simultaneously the economy continues to grow, as well as productivity." "There has never been a period in economic history in which there has been a demand for large investments if there was no growth", he stated.

In this regard, the Minister of Transport himself, Óscar Puente, suggested a few days ago that his first objective when he took over this portfolio was the decarbonisation of transport, but that this is always linked to economic growth. "It is naïve to believe that decarbonisation can be undertaken in a scenario of recession or low economic growth", said the minister at a breakfast briefing this week.

The CEO of IAG, Luis Gallego, also stated that if aviation does not manage to decarbonise "it will die". The head of the IAG group, the holding company that brings together Iberia and British Airways, is clear that this is "a huge challenge" because they are currently investing in new aircraft with a typical lifespan of 20 to 25 years that are based on technology that is "far from zero emissions", although consumption has been improved compared to the previous generation of aircraft. For this reason, he highlighted the importance of the production of SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) and that Spain has the opportunity to lead this industry.